I stayed in a hotel last night in Duncan AZ. If I were being kind I would call the place a handyman special, being less kind I would call it a dump. After a long day of hill climbing, this was the only alternative so I took it. Had it been a better hotel I would have taken today off because after two tough days (recap: 77 miles much of it down hill and 37 miles, most of it up hill) I was hurting.
The elevation map of today's ride (that is, leaving the handyman hotel) showed it as mostly up hill. But the ride was level coming out of town and then perhaps a two mile mild uphill climb to a plateau. The balance of this 33 mile day was tiny ups and downs and about ninety percent level through beautiful country.
I was headed to Lordsburg, NM and some distance away, during a break, a couple rode up on a tandem. Helene Lanctot & Patrick Hogan from Montreal. They are the first people I have met who were doing the same route as me. They are seasoned cyclists and they answered or confirmed some important issues: they also ride the white line and not the rough shoulder; they use gloves and say that they help the numbness in their hands; they also thought the 110 mile north/south route out of Mesa AZ through Tonto Forest was stupid (my word, not theirs) and were smart enough to avoid it altogether; and they often take alternate routes to those shown on the Adventure Cycle maps.
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| The NM sign startled me. I knew it was coming but did not expect so soon. |
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| Does anyone know the name of this plant? I rode by a lot of them today. |
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| Once I got up to the plateau the road looked like this all day long. It an easy and fun ride. |
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| I made it to Lordsburg and found a good hotel to take tomorrow off in. YaHoo. |
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